Typewriting machine



May 28, 1940. v H. J. HAR'lfY v y 2,202,451

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21. 1938 ATTORNEY S Patented May 28, 1940 UNITED STATES g 2,202,451 -TyrEwm'nNe mom Henry Joseph Hart, West-Hartford, Conn., u signor to Royal Typewriter Company, Inc., New

- York, N. 4Y., a corporation of New York Application December 21, 193s, serial No. 247,019

2 Claims.

eration after the typewriter carriage has reached 5 the end of a typed line as determined by the setting of carriage travel limiting means such as a margin stop.`

It is usual to provide typewriterswith mechanism for automatically locking the type bars or l0 key levers against operative movement when the carriage approaches or reaches the end of its travel in letter spacing direction. One purpose of providing such mechanism is to prevent piling or superimposed type impressions at the end of a typed line after margin fixing mechanism has functioned to prevent further letter spacing` movement of the carriage. Line lock mechanism heretofore known and now used commercially functions eillciently when the key lever depressed just prior to the actuation of the mechanism has been returned all the way or substantially all the way to its normal or elevated position before any other key lever has been depressed. An object of the invention is to provide simple and emcient mechanism of the kind referred to adapted to effect certain and positive locking of printing instrumentalities such as type bars or Y key levers when the carriage reaches the end of its normal letter spacing movement.

character referred to adapted to function when the carriage reaches the end of its letter spacing travel to positively lock key levers against being depressed or otherwise actuated even though the key lever actuated just prior to the carrlages reaching the end of its travel has not returned to its retracted or normal position.

More speciilcally, an object is to provide linelock mechanism actuated in response to carriage travel, the arrangement being such that,

with the carriage positioned one letter space away from its limit of travel in letter space direction, depression of any one of the key levers will effect movement of the carriage through the remaining letter space yand will positively lock the other key levers against being depressed even though the depression key lever is held depressed.`

Other objects will become' apparent from a reading of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing,

in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of a typewriter structure embodying the invention, u some parts being shown in elevation, parts of the Another object is to provide mechanism of thel typewriternot necessary to be disclosed to `assist in understanding the invention being omitted:

Figure 2 is a detail view partly in section-and partly in elevation drawn on an enlarged scale vand showing key levers, type actions, and parts of a line lock mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail view in elevation lookingin the direction of the arrow I in Figure 1 and drawn on an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail section takenv on line 4-4 of Figure 1 and drawnr on an en- -larged scale; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating how type bars of prior artconstructions may collide or eil'ect "piiing at the end of a line, a fault of operation which is eliminated by the present invention. l

'I'he invention may be embodied in typewriting machines of various kinds, but, for the purposes of illustration, the invention is shown as being embodied in a Royal Standard typewriter including a main frame A and carriage'B equipped vwith the usual platen C mounted on the frame for letter spacing and return travel.

A- main frame A carries a ilxed track rail i which supports an escapement frame 2. The fixed track rail i, through the medium of ball-1 bearings 3, supports a carriage track rail 4. Movement of the carriage for letterspacing is controlled by an escapement mechanism including an escapement wheel 5 which coperates with suitable dogs (not shown) and an escapement pinion 6 meshing with arack 1 secured to a bar l mounted on the carriage by means of arms l only one of which is shown. Mounted on the carriage is a longitudinally extending margin stop bar lli on which a right margin stop Ii is mounted', preferably for adjustment, and is adapted to cooperate with a center stop I2 pivotally mounted on the main frame as vat i3, a leaf spring i4 being arranged to urge the'center stop to the operative or stopping position shown in Figure 1. The margin stop ii does-not contact directly with the center stop I2 when the carriage approaches the end of its lettergspacing travel, but it engages firstwith a line lock lever ii pivotaily mounted on the center stop as ai: i6, the relation of the parts just prior to` engagement of the right margin stop Il with the line lock lever i5 being shown best'in Figure 3. After the margin stop has engaged the line lock' lever, further movement of the carriage and the margin stop will press the line lock leverv against the center stop i2 so as to definitely arrest the mechanism against further operative movement in the manner to be described hereinafter.

The typewriter shown for the purposes of illustration includes a margin release key |1 pivotally mounted on a cross shaft I6 carried by the main frame. The key I1 is provided with a vertical arm I which is adapted to engage a lug 20 on a vertically extending lever 2| when the key I1 is depressed so as to rock the lever 2| to the left as viewed in Figure 1. A link 22 is pivotally connected at one end as at 23 to the lever 2|, and at the other end is connected as at 24 to an arm 25 extending downwardly from the center stop I2. 'Ihe arrangement is such that, when the key I1 is depressed, the lever 2| is rocked toward the left, thus pulling on the link 22 and swinging the downwardly extending arm 25 also to the left to swing the upper end' of the center stop I2 toward the right, clear of the path of the margin stop II, so as to permit the carriage to move beyond its normally fixed right margin position.

The typewriter shown may include suitable tabulating mechanism. As shown in Figure 1. a lower arm 26 on a pivoted lift lever 21 is positioned to be engaged by the downwardly extending arm 25 of the center stop I2 when the arm 25 is rocked to the left so as to rock the lift lever in a clockwise direction, causing an upper arm 2l to engage the bar 3 to lift the latter and the rack 1, thereby freeing the rack from the escapement pinion 6. The movement of the arm- 25 and lift lever 21 required to effect escapement release for tabulating purposes is greater than the amount of movement of the arm 25 required to effect margin release by swinging the center stop clear of the right margin stop I'I. The additional movement of the arm 25 required to effect escapement release for tabulating purposes may be obtained with the aid of a suitable device, not;l

shown, but connected, for example, 'to the lever 2|.

Typewriters embodying the present invention may be equipped with type actions of a known kind. Figure 1 shows one type action including a type bar 29 pivotally connected as at 30 to a type bar segment 3| supported on the main frame in the usual manner. The type bar is provided with a short arm 32 which is connected to a link 33 in turn connected to an intermediate lever 34 pivotally mounted as at 35. A link 36 is interposed between the intermediate lever 34 and a lever 31 pivotally mounted as at 33 adjacent the front of the typewriter. A link 39 is interposed between the lever 31 and a depressable key lever 46 pivotally mounted as at I3. The arrangement is such that depression of the key lever 40 will, by means of intervening lever and link connections, cause the type bar 23 to swing in a clockwise direction to printing position with reference to the platen C. A link 4| is connected between the intermediate lever 34 and the usual universal bar 42, which may be connected in a known manner to the escapement mechanism. A spring 43 interposed between the link 4| and a spring anchor plate 44 provides for the desired type action tension and assists in returning the type bar 23 to its normal position. A cushioning key lever rest 45 carried by a part 46 mounted on the main frame is positioned above the key levers 40, and the usual type bar rest 41 serves to support the type bar 23 when it is in its state of rest position.

It will be understood that typewriters embodying the invention will include the usual number of complete type gbar actions. Figures 1 and 2 show one additional type action which includes 2,202,451 carriage and at the same time lock the printing parts similar in construction and arranged correspondingly to the parts of the type action described above, the parts of the second type action illustrated being designated by reference numerals the same as those designating corresponding parts of the type action described, with the exception that the reference numerals designating parts of the second type action are primed.

'I'he parts thus far described are of known construction and relative arrangement, andthey do not per se constitute the present invention. 'I'he present invention resides in the provision of novel and improved mechanism for controlling or locking the type actions against movement when the carriage reaches or approaches the end of its letter spacing travel, and the cooperative arrangement of such mechanism with some of the conventional parts which already have been described.

In accordance with the invention, a typewriter is provided with line lock mechanism responsive to carriage travel for positively locking any one of the key levers or type bars against operative movement irrespective of whether any other key lever is in elevated or depressed position. In the illustrative embodiment, the line lock lever |5, pivotally mounted on the center stop as at I6, is provided with a downwardly extending arm 48 which is connected as at 49 to a link 5|! in turn pivotally connected as at 5| to a lever generally designated 52 mounted to rock about pivots 53-53 on the main frame A. The lever 52 includes a horizontal upper arm 54, and a horizontal lower arm 55 joined by a vertically extending plate portion 56. A spring 51 interposed between the upper arm 54 and the frame A urges the line lock lever to the position shown in Figure 3, wherein the upper portion of the line lock lever is disposedlout of contact with the center stop I2. Movement of the parts under the urge of the spring 51 is limited by engagement of a stop projection 56 on the lever 52 with the main frame A. A link 59 is pivotally connected at its rear end asat 60 to the lower arm 55 on the lever 52 and atits front end is pivotally lconnected as at 6| to a stop plate 62 which is adjustably or pivotally mounted as at 63 for rocking movement. Normally, the plate 62 is in the position shown in Figure 1, wherein-its upper edge 64 is below and in front of or clear of the paths of movement of abutments on the bottoms of the key levers, two such abutments 65 and 65 on the key levers 4I! and 40' respectively in the planes of the key levers being shown. 'I'he top corner edge of the plate 62, which leads when the plate is rocked clockwise as viewed in Figures 1 and 2v to line locking position, is formed as a sharp line edge 64B. 'I'he abutments of all of the key levers are aligned in parallelism with the pivotal axis of the plate 62, so that the plate 62 may cooperate as a common stop device with each and all of the abutments. In accordance with the invention, the abutments are so shaped as to permit movement of the stop plate 62 to completely operative position under key lever abutments, even after one of the abutments already has moved downwardly past the top of the stop. In the form shown, the abutment 65 is formed with a lower horizontal edge or surface 61 and with a receding or inclined surface or edge 68 which extends upwardly and inwardly toward the body of the abutment and intersects the bottom edge 61 to form conjolntly therewith an acute angle having a sharp line edge 61'l at its vertex. The abutment 65' on the key lever 40' and the corresponding abutments on key levers not shown are of similar construction.

In operation, the various parts will be in the positions shown in Figure 1 before the carriage approaches the end of its letter spacing movement as determined by the setting of the margin stop i i; Assuming that the carriage then reaches a position one letter space away from the limit of its travel, and assuming that the key lever 40 is then depressed, the carriage will be moved to the left through the remaining letter space distance, and will cause the margin stop Il to engage the line lock lever I5 (see Figure 3) soas to move the upper end of the line lock lever toward the center stop. Such movement of the line lock lever will, by means of the link .50, the lever 52, and the link 59, rock the stop plate 62 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 1 and 2, bringing it to the position shown in Figure 2, and positioning its top edge 64 under the abutments of all of the key levers, with the exception of the key lever 40 depressed Just prior to the ilnal letter space movement of the carriage. Because of the shape of the abutment 65, the plate 62 is permitted to move under the abutment I0' and corresponding abutments on the other key levers (not shown), even while the key lever I0 is held in depressed position as shown in Figure 2. Thus, if the operator should attempt to depress another key lever, say, the key lever l0', before releasing the key lever lll, depressing movement of such other key lever is positively blocked and prevented by the stop plate 62, which has been moved to its completely operative position.

Movement of the stop plate to its completely operative position is permitted in this instance by the inclination of the receding edge 68, which makes it possible for the upper part of the stop plate to move into overlapping relation with respect to the abutment edge 68.

When the key lever lll is released, it will be returned to its normal position in the usual manner without interference by the stop plate, the play or lost motion in the connections be- 4l tween the line lock lever and the stop plate 62 permitting the inclined edge 88 of the abutment to cam the plate 62 in a counterclockwise direction, in turn permitting the abutment 65 to move upwardly to a position corresponding to the position of the abutment 65' shown in Figure 2. With the arrangement described, it is impossible to effect operative movement of any type action after depression of one key lever eiects movement of the carriage to its margin stop position.

The mechanism disclosed herein embodies the invention in' the form now preferred, but it is apparent that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

l. In a typewriter; a travelling carriage; a plurality of key levers; and line lock mechanism for said levers comprising a plurality of abutments respectively rigid with and depending from the'key levers, the abutments being horizontally aligned with each other and each having a horizontal bottom edge and a receding edge portion inclined directly from its juncture with said bottom edge upwardly and inwardly toward the juncture of the abutment with the key lever, said receding edge portion intersecting said horizontal bottom edge and forming therewith an acute angle with a sharp line edge at its vertex,

.a stop plate pivoted to rock about a horizontal axis below the abutment bottom edges, the plate being movable to a position in which its top edge is disposed out of the downward path of said abutments, and to a `second position in which its top edge is disposed below and in the path of said abutment horizontal bottom edges, the plate being movable to said second position and with its top edge over the receding edge of an abutment on a key lever depressed previously to such movement of the plate, said plate having a sharp line top corner edge positioned to be leading'when the plate is being moved to said second position whereby chance of blocking of the plates movementto said second position by a partially depressed key levery is minimized andsubstantially eliminated, and means responsive to carriage travel for moving said plate to said second position.

2. In a typewriter; a frame; a travelling carriage; a plurality of key levers; and line lock mechanism for said levers comprising a plurality of abutments respectively rigid with and depending from the key levers, the abutments being horizontally aligned with each other and each having a horizontal bottom edge and a receding edge portion inclined directly from its juncture with said bottom edge upwardly and inwardly toward the juncture yof the abutment with the key lever, said receding edge portion intersecting said horizontal bottom edge and forming therewith an acute angle with a sharp line edge at its vertex, a stop plate pivoted to rock about a horizontal axis below the, abutment bottom edges, the plate being movable to a position in which its top edge is disposed out of the downward path of ,said abutments, and to a second position in which its top edge is disposed below and in the path of said abutment horizontal bottom edg, the plate being movable to said second position and with its top edge over the receding edge of an abutmenton a key lever depressed previously to such movement of the plate, said plate having a sharp line top corner edge positioned to be-leading when the plate is being moved to said second position whereby chance oi'blocking of the plates movement to said second position by a partially depressed key lever isminimized and substantiallyeliminated, a line lockv lever mounted on said frame, a partl on said carriage adapted to engage and operate said line-lock lever when the carriage reaches the end of letter-spacing travel, and lever and link connections between the line-lock lever and the plate for moving said plate to said second position in response to movement of the line-lock lever by said carriage part. there being sumcient play or lost motion in said lever and link connections to permit the receding edge on the abutment of the previously depressed key lever to cam the stop plate clear of said receding edge and thereby permit said previously depressed key lever to rise during continued engagement of said carriage part with said line-lock lever. K HENRY JOSEPH HART. 

